Seeking Secrets
by pikatif
Summary: (Probably a working title) The town of Lilliton has its secrets, and the thread may have begun to unravel the night three men vanished. What will happen when one is found? Will the arrival of a certain Cuban boy lead to new discoveries? What secrets are they even keeping? A Riverdale-inspired AU. Ships listed inside first chapter. (My first proper story in a while, be kind)
1. A Sound with No One to Hear it

**A/N Sorry I've been away, but I'm back and needed to start this! I finally finished Riverdale and all I could think of was a mystery AU based off Riverdale, so hopefully I can keep this one going. It's actually fun to write, unlike other things I've written haha.**

 **If you're a shipper person, I would ask you to give this a go, but I will list the ships: Klance, eventual Hidge, non-endgame Lotura, Adashi, Aczor, and I'm still pondering Romelle. The rest are really minor.**

* * *

 **Prologue ~A Sound with No One to Hear it**

As the skies darkened, the forest became a treacherous labyrinth. Three tall figures made their way across the land, sticking close to the waters as not to get lost in the hands of the bare November trees.

The eldest spoke to another, his son, with worry in his tone, "Matt, you should head back. It's getting dark out and who knows what really attacked your sister and her friend out here – for all we know, it still could've just been a prank."

The look in his eyes was tired; running this town had taken its toll, especially in the past few months of struggle against the Galra family's ridiculous demands. In fact, those demands could have been the cause of the attack on Pidge and her friend.

Matt remained in silent thought whilst the other man spoke, this one a similar age to Matt, "It's not just your sister that was attacked, my brother was there too, and I promise we'll do all we can to get to the bottom of this."

His father sighed, "Shiro's right, son. Go home and keep your mother and sister safe for me."

Those words had the opposite effect as Matt snapped at the two elder men, "But that's just the point! I _am_ protecting them, by finding the guy who did this – otherwise what kind of brother am I? I wasn't even there for Pidge, and if Keith weren't there she could've been hurt or killed or god knows what and I just-" He took a deep breath and Shiro placed a calming hand on his shoulder. After a moment he'd calmed down and he continued shakily, "I just want my sister to be safe. I'm staying."

Matt looked up to Shiro who nodded as Sam chuckled, but their brief moment of relief was ruined when they heard a piercing scream come from across the wood: deeper into the forest. Sam readied his rifle as he checked once more if everyone was ready, with obvious replies.

None returned.

-o-O-o-

 ** _Nearly a year after the disappearance of Sam Holt, Matthew Holt and Takashi Shirogane…_**

The sun crawled over the horizon drearily, as if tired of its daily work. The sky was surprisingly clear of clouds for a September morning, and the forest life basked in the rays the sun gave. The more sapient beings, however, could see the rays dwindling like the hopes of the town.

Keith found himself down the river for what was probably his daily stroll. At first he came down to search for any signs of his brother or the mayor or Matt or just… anyone. Anything. Matt and Shiro's phone signals led down the river, so this was most likely nearer to where they had gone missing. It evolved into a habit, and further into his daily routine (not that he had much of one anyway, but he always found himself drawn to the river). Keith preferred the river over the lake, it was less crowded and more peaceful, if he met anyone it was either Blue and Plaxum practising swimming (occasionally something more) or Red and her father out fishing. He came so often he'd even named the local deer family.

Mothy, a deer with a darker pelt than the others, raised her head above the bushes and flicked her ears in greeting, at which Keith nodded. Her eyes trailed over to where the river led further on, and he followed her gaze. He was going that way anyhow, so why the hell not? Just follow a deer's gaze into the wilderness. He'd done much worse.

When he walked further, however, he noticed something dark against the rocks. At first he felt angry, assuming it was some dumb kid that'd been littering, but as he kept focus he could swear it moved. It twitched once more, ever so slightly. His deep violet eyes widened as he made out the shape of a body in the water. Stumbling over and slipping on the wet rocks in his haste, he jumped down to pull the body out of the water.

The whole world seemed to freeze as he turned the body over and saw the man's face. He'd clearly changed – he had a huge scar, completely white hair and what looked to be a metal arm – but that face shape was unmistakeable. Keith snapped himself out of his daze and checked the man's pulse: still beating. Without a moment to waste he began reviving him, pushing the water out of his lungs and breathing air back into his system.

The man coughed, breathing out unevenly, as he whispered his name, "Keith?"

The boy's face melted into a puddle of joyful tears and a warm smile, "Shiro…!"

* * *

 **A/N I know this first chapter was really short, but 1: it's only the prologue! 2: I'm just starting to get back to writing with actual effort, so it'll probably be a while before these become amazing novel-worthy masterpieces (if ever haha). Also 3: most chapters probably won't be super long, maybe 2-3 thousand words?**

 **Hopefully I'll actually stick to this one! It looks super fun (from my shoddy notes lol) and I hope you enjoyed the lil Brogane thing here. I'll try to explain everything along the way, so sit tight and read on! (that includes the deer names hehe)  
**

 **Also, the title is kinda based off the old question 'if a tree falls in a forest but there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?' *everyone begins to yell Waving Through a Window***


	2. New Town, New Hope

**A/N May as well post the first real chapter as well, to give everyone a better taste of the cast. Also, I dropped Spanish ASAP because I have never even been to Spain or anywhere Spanish and don't really plan to, so I don't know if Lance's grandma should just be called abuela or is it abuelita? Is abuelita a cute name, like you call your favourite grandma nana? I am confusion, send help.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 ~New Town, New Hope**

Lance had no idea what had happened to his family. All of a sudden his father is in prison, he's staying with his abuela, his mother and brothers are on the other side of the country, while his sister stays with her cousins in Venice. Why couldn't _he_ go to Venice? Was he too 'annoying'? Well, screw that lot, he was gonna make a name for himself in this rusty little town, he swore to himself. A good name.

The one person he knew in this town was his old childhood friend, Hunk Garrett. Until they were seven, their families both lived in the town a few miles south of this one – they were actually neighbours – and Lance had gladly kept in touch ever since, not that they knew everything about each other. Although, Lance had to say, this 'Pidge' person did seem interesting, as Hunk mentioned them a lot.

He shook himself from his thoughts as he finished up in the bathroom and moved on to the real decisions: what to wear. A good first impression is key, especially when most of the school probably knows your father is in prison, because some bitch will have heard it somewhere. Damn, he felt like a cool anime protagonist. No way was he going to screw this up.

-o-O-o-

I groaned at Hunk's ridiculous babbling and terrible fidgeting: how important _was_ this guy? Did Hunk start liking men and was this guy his new husband? Or some motherfriggin celebrity dude?

"Hunk, buddy, calm your shit. It's just a dude." What? I don't cuddle people and calm them down, I state the facts. Turns out miss blondie had other ideas too.

"Pidge, leave him alone. It's totally natural for people to get nervous when meeting up with old friends, like what if they've changed too much? Or what if you don't get along anymore? These questions are all fine, so cheer up, Hunky."

Hunk didn't seem to take any of Romelle's assurances to heart – you could see plain as day the utter anxiety in his deep mahogany eyes. It reminded me of the look Matt always had when a girl had a legit crush on him, or the look Shiro had before proposing to Adam, or the look Keith had when they still hadn't found anyone's bodies or- well shit. Let's not think about that. Them. Whatever.

I sighed, "If it's really so much trouble, why don't you just talk to us, dumbass. At least show us a picture of this dude."

At this suggestion, Hunk seemed to relax slightly, relaying all the information he had on this guy. "So, his name is Lance McClain, he's pretty damn rich, you might have heard his father is in prison right now though, but I promise he's a good guy, he's really self-conscious about his looks, he can be annoying, but he's always been a loyal friend and has never done anything bad to any of his friends, at least nothing completely terrible, I think, and… Oh! I'll show you guys his picture,"

Hunk took out his phone and placed it on the table once he found a good picture of Lance from the waste up. I nearly coughed on my drink – this guy was _hot_. Okay, so there's that, sure, even I'd be afraid of _that_. Aside from that, he had a sort of narcissistic, dumb jerk look about him – and I know not to judge books by their cover, but Hunk's fear was now justified. Hopefully this wouldn't turn into the high school cliché where childhood friends become mortal enemies, because _fuck that trope_.

All I could say was " _Damn._ "

Even Romelle had a blush, _the_ Romelle, who swore on her parents' graves she'd never have a boyfriend because she believes them to be a 'waste of time' (and to be honest I can agree), and has never once had a crush on any guy ever. Well, if it was Blue blushing I suppose it might be greater news since the only guy she's ever blushed at was- on second thoughts, no one needs to know.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Lance pounced onto Hunk as soon as he saw him. "Hunk, man, you still give the best hugs! I've missed you, buddy."

"Me too, Lance! I betcha I can still make the best cookies too,"

Lance shot him some finger guns as he laughed, "How the hell are you still single?!"

Hunk chuckled as he introduced me and Romelle, Lance mentioning me being 'famous' at which Hunk almost squealed at in frustration, weird, and then Lance proceeded to flirt with Romelle shamelessly. This only earned eye rolls from the both of us.

Despite his clear difference in the Gucci he wore and his lively personality, something about him was loveable, and something told me he was about to bring a storm our way.

"Man, I hope you don't die too."

-o-O-o-

Lance wasn't sure if he should laugh or not – had people died here? Recently? Fortunately, Hunk stepped in for him.

"Don't mind Pidge, she's… had a lot of stuff happen in the last year."

The Latino raised a brow, "Come on, you can tell me, can't you?"

"Actually, it's her story to tell, Lance. You should drop it."

That confirmed one thing: people had actually died. He went silent, nodding and leaving the subject. Pidge seemed unfazed by the awkwardness she'd just caused, but Romelle definitely was.

She coughed, "Well, I do think we should at least introduce Lance to his surroundings, right? For example, all the groups."

Lance grinned eagerly, "Ooh, tell me all about 'em. I'm assuming those guys are the jocks?" He gestured over to the group of tall, broad-shouldered guys, who were leering at him from afar. He mumbled, "Jocks are assholes."

Romelle literally growled with spite as she glared at one white-haired jock in particular, "Damn right they are."

Pidge explained, "Yeah, Romelle's sister is under the spell of Lotor Galra, the one and only cock of Garrison High. His family owns a huge business, but everyone assumes shady stuff goes on there-"

Hunk interrupted to correct her, "Uh, it's just you who thinks that, Pidge."

"-Shut it, besides, his whole family are dicks. I can't even _begin_ to understand how Keith is even _friends_ with his sister."

He interrupted once more, "Actually, Acxa is adopted, and they barely hang out or talk so it's as if they're not even related."

Romelle took Pidge's side, "Acxa's still a bitch though. Of course, it's _Ezor_ who's the evil one."

"Nuh-uh, it's the _mom_."

Lance's brain was overloading with foreign names – seriously, their parents must've been high whilst naming them all, even the most normal-sounding one 'Keith' was outdated – and so he stood up and called for them to slow down. "Can we go one at a time please? Too much name dropping is confusing as hell, guys."

After mumbling their apologies, they continued to the very captain of the football team, James. This time, Hunk grumbled. "Honestly, that guy is the worst. I'm actually happy the only reason Keith isn't here now is because he beat the shit outta that guy. He gave everyone shit after what happened, all just because he _could_ since none of it affected him, especially to Pidge."

Romelle nodded, an arm around Pidge, "Yeah, but it's all right now. We're all managing. Don't let him bother you, Lance, and just ignore whatever bullshit he throws at you."

He laughed, "You're a lot fierier than I expected, I mean, this _is_ the good group isn't it?"

Pidge puffed, "More like the nerd group."

Hunk shook his head, "I think you mean the _nice_ group."

They moved on to the cheerleaders, led by queen bee and resident bitch Ezor, her red hair always high up in a top knot, with her right-hand girl Acxa, the adopted sister of Lotor. Apparently, they were both quite bitchy, but Acxa at least had common sense. They were accompanied by their mysterious, quiet friend Narti, her bangs hiding most of her face, as well as the swimmers Blue and Plaxum, a few others, and the famous Allura.

This led on to Romelle's sister, the Angel of Lilliton, Allura Altea. Lance had moved around many different schools, so he was familiar with the 'girl who pretty much everyone loves because they're so nice', but was also familiar with the way this girl was never loyal to any one group or friend – only to her boyfriend. Allura was dating Lotor, no one knew quite why, but they _seemed_ happy (Romelle had doubts about Lotor, though), but one look at Allura and Lance fell. No, literally. He tried to stand up and greet her but tripped over a tree root.

Hunk sighed, "You're still as clumsy as ever,"

"I _meant_ to do that, Hunk! Believe me, it's all part of a plan!"

There was also a girls' football team, and those girls were either towering man-killers or BFGs, though not the smartest on the block. There were a few default groups, but the only other group that piqued Lance's interest was the Blade, the gangsters. At least, that's what they sounded like to him – apparently Pidge's best friend was the leader of this group? And this guy was the infamous Keith? Mister currently suspended due to 'beating the shit outta' James, _the_ one and only Keith?

Lance hummed in thought, "This guy sounds kinda emo. Is he alright?"

Pidge cackled hysterically at that, "God, you haven't even met him and you know he's emo! I'm gonna bully him tonight. He's fine, Lancey, just staying with me while he sorts out some… family problems."

"Oh no, now he sounds like _me!_ " He turned to Hunk overdramatically pleading, "I don't wanna be an emo!"

Romelle giggled, "I just misheard that as 'I don't wanna be an _emu_ ' and thought 'who does?'"

Hunk giggled too, "But who wants to be an e _mo_ anyway?"

Pidge countered, "I do! Then I'd get to listen to the emo bands in peace!"

Their laughter was cut short by the registration bell, as Lance's face fell to the classic 'oh shit' expression as he realised he hadn't gotten his timetable from the office and had absolutely no idea where to go.

Pidge saluted him as she and the other two rushed to class, "Ya better nyoom right over, Loverboy,"

Lance responded by flipping her off.

-o-O-o-

Colleen cradled over her desk, the words on the papers scrambling her brain. A reminder of the coming mayoral election in the summer, complaints that she was an incompetent mayor, taunts about her family, and to top it all off another demand from the Galras.

The Galras. She was sure they were the ones who took her family away.

Her family. Her husband Sam, her son Matt, her daughter Pidge, and herself – except now it was just her and Pidge.

Sam and Matt. She drifted over to their memorial like a ghost and let her fingers glide over their framed photos, tears falling down her cheeks.

What if Pidge left too? She would be all alone, the sole survivor… Survivor? Survivor of what, exactly? She didn't care, she just wanted her family back. As she stared at the faces of her lost ones, a grave notion crept its way into her thoughts and she reached into the drawers to find a key. She walked to the study and used the key to unlock a drawer. Inside the drawer was a safe, soon opened to reveal a gun. Her hands had almost clasped the weapon when the doorbell rang, the banging of the door reverberating throughout the walls of the house like an angry crowd. It was the voice that snapped her out of her daze as it yelled this was urgent.

Reclosing all the boxes and drawers, she hurried down the stairs, calling, "Keith? Shouldn't you be at school?"

This question remained unanswered for a good while as she opened the door and laid her eyes upon Keith's discovery.

Perhaps her family could still be saved.

-o-O-o-

Lance miraculously made it to the office, found his lesson and room and got there all in less than five minutes, and so his image wasn't completely ruined by being drastically late on the first day. His first lesson was, of course, English, and guess who it was with? Lotor, James and Allura. The latter was a blessing, the former two the greatest burdens. Lotor and Allura had snagged seats next to each other and were painfully making googly eyes at the other. Of course, there being more than one seat on a row, James took the one on the other side of Allura, quite obviously looking to start a fight.

How Lance would know, you ask? Simple: the cool kids always sit at the back, but these three were in fact on the front row where Lance had VIP viewing of the beef about to go down. Lotor was clearly a cool kid, but he had an excuse as he was sitting next to his girlfriend, whilst James had no excuse other than messing with them. The girl sat next to Lance seemed to have figured it out too and gave him an anxious look.

She fiddled with her golden locks as she mumbled to Lance, "You're the new kid, aren't you?" When he nodded, she sighed and shook her head. "I feel sorry you're gonna have to witness all this on your first day, because if Lotor and James butt heads it's gonna be pretty ugly."

Did Lance dare ask how ugly? Of course.

She replied solemnly, "The Galra family's enemies always end up dead."

The teacher was fairly young, only in his twenties, and yet he had the spirit of a haggard old man who' survived a war. He still taught diligently and assessed their work properly, but none of it was lively. As James began to flirt with Allura, Lance turned to the blonde next to him and asked about the teacher. Her expression dropped as if he'd stepped on a bomb.

She shushed him and whispered so even he could barely hear her, "Mr Warner lost his fiancé last year – do you not know about the incident?" Lance shook his head, and she told him to look it up when he got home.

Who was Mr Warner's fiancé if even Pidge wasn't talking about it? Did he die? As the questions flew around his mind, the tension in front of him between James's persistence and Allura's clear disinterest only made his mind spin more.

Lance groaned, snapping at James from behind, "Back up, man, her boyfriend is _literally right there_ , or do you want a death wish?"

James just gave him a condescending look, one of venom that made Lance's insides boil. He spoke slowly as if speaking to a monkey, "And what would the new kid know about dear Allura and her friends?"

Lance rose from his seat and opened his mouth to speak, but Allura's crystal blue eyes stared him down, speaking a silent 'don't do it'. Before he could decide what to do, James also rose and stood over Lance, smirking.

"Go on. You look as if you have something to say, or has a _cat_ got your tongue," At which he glared at the blonde.

At this, the blonde stood up too, towering over the both of them and taking care of the situation that Lance found himself trapped in. She growled, "I hope you're not so stupid that you don't know cats hunt and devour rats like you, so be careful what you say next."

Mr Warner sighed, tired of all this teenage nonsense. "Students, please get back in your seats."

The blonde tapped Lance's back, signalling him to back down. James, however, remained standing out of pure spite. The teacher asked once more politely, tiredly. He didn't comply.

He scoffed, "Oh, and what is poor old Mr Warner gonna do to make me? The only reason no one in your classes dares to mess around is because they all feel guilty about your gay ass, but you know what? _I'm not._ So please, send me to the principal's office." That shit-eating grin on his face as he said all that with confidence made Lance wish he could just beat him up right then and there, but this guy was at least twice as built as Lance – how macho was this Keith guy then? A friend of Pidge's couldn't be so fit, right?

Instead of standing up to him, Lance found himself grumbling in frustration about all the unanswered questions once more. Mr Warner didn't even bother to punish James, and simply continued with the lesson as if nothing had happened. This man might as well have been a robot. The blonde mumbled something about James being the principal's nephew, and that his father was a very powerful politician in another big city, not to mention his totally biased mother who raised him like he was the only person of worth in the world. Lance cursed under his breath in Spanish. Throughout this whole ordeal, Lotor had only been watching ominously; somehow his stare became more terrifying than if he'd snapped and started yelling. Silent rage was something Lance was never comfortable with.

The blonde next to him coughed, changing the subject, "So you're the new kid, La-something… Larry, Lagan, Lala-"

"Whoa there, 'Lala'? Who the hell calls their kid Lala?"

"The same person who calls their kid Lotor,"

They barely stifled their hysterics as he shook his head, "It's Lance, but I don't mind the name Lala."

"I'm Melyn. Hope to see you down at Voltron sometime," He raised a brow, at which she explained, "Y'know, the diner? Me and the girls also have a band that play there, so you should definitely come visit sometime."

He joked, "So this was all a long advertisement?" At her cute awkward silence, he laughed. "If it was, it worked. Are you playing this weekend?"

She grinned, showing sharp canines, "Obviously."

What's this, a date landed on the first day of school? Just another day for Lance McClain, baby.

* * *

 **A/N I changed Adam's surname to Warner, since it began with a 'W' but we were never told it. If you didn't know, I made the Lions into characters. Red and Blue should be obvious, Kuro is the black lion, Jade is the green lion, and Melyn is the yellow lion. For the beginning, it's mainly Red and Blue.**

 **I hope this chapter was okay? Was it long enough? I struggle with dialogue because I don't want to make it just talking, but at the same time I find it annoying when there's like three sentences of description in the middle of a conversation – I'm ok with** ** _thoughts_** **described in a conversation, but when people describe the way they say it without it being a super important moment, it just turns me off and makes me skim read… Aaaaa oh well I might change it later. And yeah I'm on a roll binge writing this, I wanna get to the swimming part! (Which will probably be ch. 5 or something haha)  
**

 **Also I don't care if James gets a redemption arc, he can go step on Lego.**


	3. Tracking and Protecting

**A/N (Note that I wrote this chapter before S7 but) the fandom is currently as much of a shambles as the new season was. I mean. Allurance and Acxeith could've been great? If they hadn't used fucking _googly eyes_ for the former? And the fact that Acxa and Keith have had about _four_ encounters, all very brief? The first half was great, but I felt the Earth arc to be a bit of a mess; I nearly slept. Also, introducing Adam just to kill him off? I respect that he and Shiro are their own characters, but then you may as well have not included Adam, and this all feels like queerbaiting along with the Klance hints, especially considering it's now apparent that having a crush on someone until they like you is something being broadcast positively to kids. *sighs* they literally only had to address Lance's sacrifice in a brief conversation, but no. They used the _motherfucking googly eyes._ Not to mention throwing Romelle away in the second half? I appreciate the good things but this season had so many faults compared to previous ones.**

 **I could go on but I'd rather have you enjoy this extra-long chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 ~Tracking and Protecting**

Apparently Lance had already landed himself a date, nothing unusual there. A guy as fine as him? Plenty of ladies were sure to line up. I just wanted to get home and bully Keith about his emo ass. Wandering home, I thought about telling Lance about my family – after all, he was bound to find out sooner or later, and as a new friend I'd rather be the one to tell him than anyone else.

As I got to the end of the debate inside my mind, I arrived at the house, with one odd thing: a note on the door stating that we wished not to be disturbed at all. Sure, with the beginning of school, mom would be drowning in work, but a real 'do not disturb' sign on our house? That's _asking_ for disturbance, in my opinion, and I would've torn it down right then and there if it weren't for two things: my own better reasoning to find out _why_ before acting out, and the fact that if any hooligans showed up at our door, Keith and his Blades won't hesitate to strike back.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside, hearing voices from upstairs. I walked to the cloak room to sort out my coat and bag, noticing almost all the curtains drawn closed – what had happened here? Or, as I distinguished a third voice among those upstairs, _who_ happened here?

 _And one better, WHY happened here?_

I chuckled at my own joke, climbing the stairs with confidence spurred by curiosity. As I got closer, though, I found I could hear everything a lot clearer (well no shit).

"…Sure you can't remember anything? Where the others went?" Mom sounded worried, confused, almost distraught.

"Colleen, _please_ , he literally just got back, can you stop _interrogating_ him? Give him some space and his memories will return eventually." Memories? Who was Keith talking about?

"But I need to know where they are! My husband, my _son_ …!" She began to cry. Wait, how were Matt and dad involved in this? Unless…

"Mrs Holt, I apologise for any troubles I've caused you, and I can't express my thanks enough for you taking care of Keith this past year."

Holy mother of fuck. "Shiro?!"

Gasps came from everywhere as I rounded the corner into my brother's old bedroom. Shiro, for lack of better vocabulary in my confusion, looked like _shit_. He had a scar across his nose and looked twice his age with all that white hair and- was that a _prosthetic arm?!_

I almost broke into tears myself, "Oh my god, Shiro, what did they _do_ to you?"

I practically fell into him as I hugged him, checking he was real and he _was_ and I looked up at Keith and he was crying and he hugged us as well and… we all held onto each other like if we let go, one of us would disappear again.

After finally letting go, I talked with mom about what to do. It was obvious we couldn't just go to the police like 'hey ho guess who's back bitches' it would be a big fat message for whoever started this to finish the job. We had to play it safe, smart, and wait until we knew more about where Shiro had been before we had any chance of finding the rest of our family – god knows where they are.

-o-O-o-

"I saw you speaking with the new boy this morning, Romelle." Allura leaned in to her sister's ear, whispering teasingly, "And I heard wedding bells~!"

Romelle didn't even know how to express her disinterest at this point. Burying her head in her book, she moaned, "Sis, Pidge and Hunk were also with us, and Hunk told me Lance got a date with the Voltron girl this weekend, so nuh-uh, nope, and absolutely not."

Allura sighed, "A pity, he seems like a real nice, genuine guy. You know he stood up for me against James today?"

Romelle dropped her book, yelling in disaster, " _What?!_ Does he have a bleeding _death wish?_ "

"In fact, he told James that _he_ had a death wish – which is true, since Lotor was _very much_ pissed off at that prick – but Lotor _did_ threaten Lance afterwards." Suddenly wishing she needed a cup to sip pompously at her sister, Allura went off to make some tea.

Romelle flopped sideways onto the sofa in defeat; she'd even gone to the extent of _warning_ that guy!

An afterthought appeared in Allura's head as she recalled her sister's story, "So, Red's back in school?"

Wait. Red was the only Voltron girl in their year who actually liked guys, the other two were as gay as Hayley Kiyoko, and Red barely showed up to school. Romelle dropped her book once more, deciding to save Lance from this mess before he got his poor new boy heart broken.

-o-O-o-

Keith lifted a hand to his brother's shoulder, shaking him slightly, "Hey, you okay? You've been through some serious stuff, so it's probably best if you just relax. At least, for a couple of days."

Shiro smiled at Keith, wondering if he dared ask… Instead, he jabbed at his brother, "And what's the catch? I know you're not the patient kind, Keith."

The guilt was clear in his eyes as he stuttered, ending up apologising. He sighed, "Sorry, Shiro, but… I need to know everything you can tell me."

If he could, he would have. Shiro had already planned to fill a book and voiced his thoughts, at which Keith fetched one of Pidge's many empty notebooks (she had a thing for stationery although she'd never admit it) like a cute dog and Shiro almost giggled; a whole year and Keith hadn't really changed, at least not in the basics. He began writing. But he found he could only think of a few cryptic words. Struggle. Darkness. Pain. Old Woman.

Pidge peeked through the gap between their bodies and whistled, joking, "It sounds like you were raped by an old hag."

Keith glared at her wicked sense of humour, and she mumbled an apology. She coughed, asking if they wanted anything from McDonalds, as her mother was too shaky at the moment to cook anything without burning the house down.

"Wrap of the day, what about you Shiro?"

Shiro seemed like he was in a daze, and after around ten seconds he gasped, "McClain." And started scribbling on the next clean double of the notebook, at which Pidge exclaimed "Blasphemy!" –You never just start a new _double_. After he'd finished, he turned to Keith and grasped his shoulders, looking him in the eyes.

"I don't know why, but my gut is telling me this 'McClain' is in danger – like life or death – so you need to watch out for them, it, whatever it is." He took a deep breath. "I need a Big Mac ASAP."

Keith blinked, perplexed, as Pidge laughed awkwardly, "Yes sir? Uh, Keith, c'mere a sec," and promptly dragged the boy to her room.

She shut the door and locked it tight, turned to Keith with a look of horror and vomited a ton of ideas into the air, "So today at school there was this new kid, he's in our group 'cause he's Hunk's old childhood friend, he's kinda hot but also looks like trouble, and his name is Lance McClain and apparently his family are in fact split up since his father is in prison, and he kinda fits the whole 'target' idea that Shiro had and I think he's the guy we need to protect, Keith, so can you please go and find him?"

Keith, being her childhood long-lasting friend, was used to these outbursts, and understood that mess of information perfectly. He simply answered, "No. I'm not stalking some guy because of Shiro's prophetic notebook, and who cares if this guy dies? He's practically a stranger, Pidge, just leave it." She opened her mouth to rally robin until Keith gave in, but not this time. He cut her off, "No, Pidge, if you're so afraid then _you_ look after him."

"But it'd be weird and I'm rubbish at the whole 'stalking' thing, Keith! You're the ninja-samurai, not me! Keith!"

But he'd already unlocked the door and stepped outside.

-o-O-o-

Lance found himself home just as his abuela had left to do the grocery shopping, so he had the whole house to himself. It was still a fair size, considering it's usually just his grandmother, although his grandfather had only died a few months ago, abuela still wore black everywhere. He decided to get his mind off things and search up about the town, something he hadn't had a chance to do as the last weekend was spent unpacking and bonding with his abuela.

Lilliton was a town built next to a large lake, Loch Lillie, and its main river, the River Red. Pigments in the earth made the waters look red, but it's more visible in the shallower river, hence its name. Garrison High was the only high school in the area, there was some legend about the lake, some old family feuds blah blah blah, what about places to eat? Now that's a language Lance spoke pretty well. Truthfully, he regretted not asking Hunk beforehand, but he made do by discovering the three most popular hangouts in town: a chic little café, Rebel; a rustic-looking pub, Marmora; and the most popular of the three, Voltron, a fair-sized diner near the centre of town.

Smiling as he remembered his date at the weekend, he decided to do some recon. He changed into some casual going-out clothes, a dark blue turtleneck, regular pants and his trainers, along with his favourite jacket. He felt his fingers going numb, but didn't really want to wear any gloves – though he did take a pair of fingerless ones just in case. What? They work well enough!

-o-O-o-

The Holts would have a spare wrap that night, as Keith had drifted over to hang out with Red at Voltron. After his day, he deserved a huge milkshake, with Red's secret sauce (even Red wasn't sure what it was, all she could guarantee was _alcohol_ ). For years he and Red called any alcohol 'Secret Sauce' so as not to worry Shiro, but that nosy bastard always found out, and Keith chuckled at the memory. He missed that nosiness for so long, but even with Shiro found, Shiro had yet to be rescued.

He flopped down at one of the counters, Red appearing as suddenly as a Pokémon to take his order. He needed only to say "secret sauce" and Red knew instantly.

As she wiped the table, she giggled at something in the distance behind Keith, at which he turned around. He spotted Melyn chatting up some guy and Keith furrowed his brows, opening his mouth to question, but soon realised that was the entire reason Red had giggled. He sighed, "Who's Melyn got caught in her bosom now?"

"Uh, 'bosom'? You sound like an Altea, dude. Yeah, Melyn caught some new rich kid, apparently they were meant to be going on a date this weekend? Pretty clever, she can just get him hooked on this kick-ass getaway and break things off next week, saying they moved too fast or some crap."

Alas, Keith saw this boy wearing a sign of alliance: the fingerless gloves. For a bearer of the fingerless gloves, Keith had to sympathise, and so he rose from his seat. Red rolled her eyes, leaving to grab his milkshake, "Don't go breaking my heart by breaking your own, Keith."

He strolled up to Melyn and her victim, casually leaning back on the wall next to Melyn, at which the boy raised a brow. He coughed, his voice stern yet still with a sweet tone, "Excuse me, mister mullet, but we're kinda in the middle of a date?"

Keith feigned shock, "Oh. Are you sure? Did Melyn specifically say this is a date, because if she has, I had absolutely no idea she'd _suddenly_ turned bisexual."

Melyn coughed, glaring at Keith, as if to say _what-the-hell-dude-piss-off_ , as the boy actually defended her case, "Hey man, what if she just _was_ but never knew until she found a good guy, y'know?"

Keith rolled his eyes, turning to the Lioness, "Honey, stop hoodwinking this guy and tell him you're a lesbian already."

The boy's jaw dropped, "I thought I was joking when I said you were advertising, but you frickin' _were all along?!_ "

The blonde groaned, "And why the hell did you have to intervene, Keith? -Red must've told you."

"Red's only reason to live is fucking shit up, plus this guy has fingerless gloves, so is therefore an ally."

Melyn walked away, rolling her eyes, "I pray you never return to the school grounds."

Keith turned back to the boy, smiling and expecting some form of thanks. Instead, the boy's jaw remained on the floor. He pointed at Keith like he was a ghost, " _You're_ Keith? _The_ Keith? Like, Pidge's _best friend_ Keith?!"

Keith's expression dropped. Was this some twisted form of fate? He grumbled, "Let me guess, Lance McClain?"

"Whuh- how did-?! When, what-"

"Pidge made a whole racket about you earlier. And, yes, I am 'the' Keith. It's not a common name, you know." Thankfully, Lance's jaw had lifted from the floor, but Lance was still eyeing him uncomfortably. Keith hoped he hadn't blushed as he asked, "What's the problem?"

He simply stared and said, "Mullet."

Before Keith could get in a sassy retort, the diner doors flung open as a posh accent belted to the crowd, "LANCE MCCLAIN!"

-o-O-o-

Romelle huffed, sweating from her run across the town and back. If Lance wasn't home, the diner was the best bet, and if he wasn't here then Hunk's house was on the same street as her own. Thankfully, her legs could take a break when she heard Lance call out to her and wave uncertainly, looking slightly scared. She sighed, silently chuckling – she hadn't meant to _scare_ him. As she walked up to him, she almost forgot why she'd come in the first place - almost.

"Alright, what did Melyn trick you into buying? I _promise_ I'll get whatever money she snagged back, so you just point and I'll shoot-" She almost didn't realise the guy in the red jacket standing next to Lance. She corrected herself, coughing, "Keith, good day, how has suspension gone?"

He smirked, "It's a motherfucking holiday."

Romelle shook her head, ignoring Lance's surprise at their closeness. Putting two and two together, she moved on from her cat hunt and to the next most pressing matter; she stepped over to Lance as she pinched his arm, asking with a threatening tone that contrasted her smile, "What the _hell_ were you thinking when you butted in to Lotor's business today? Much less, James's?"

Keith interrupted whatever Lance was about to say with a look of horror as he exclaimed, "Wait, you did _what?_ "

Clearly feeling overwhelmed by the angry pair looming over him, Lance struggled to explain himself. "I was just pissed, y'know? James was being a dick and then I defended Allura, but somehow Lotor took that in a bad way, I don't know! _I_ don't think I did anything bad…" He seemed to feel more confident after justifying himself, and questioned the other two back indignantly, "Besides, what do you two care? I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Also, I feel personally attacked that you guys didn't at least show me a picture of Keith before I stumbled upon him here, because-" he gestured to the boy and hummed in frustration, not being able to find the right description without making things awkward.

Romelle raised a brow at Lance's sudden embarrassment (to be honest, he looked kinda goofy in that turtleneck compared to Keith next to him, rocking his signature red jacket), but decided to ignore it as Keith admonished Lance picking stupid fights in the first place. She suggested they call it a night, pointing to the clock on the wall that read 10:42 – not super late per se, though Lance did have a mini breakdown freaking out over his grandmother. Romelle's house was on the opposite side of Lance's, so Keith offered to take him there since Romelle didn't want him getting lost or attacked in the dark – things _have_ happened in the past.

That left the two boys by themselves.

-o-O-o-

Zipping up my jacket, I shivered at the brisk air, wishing I'd taken the stupid woolly gloves rather than the useless fingerless ones – not that I was about to say any of that out loud, next to an apparent fingerless glove preacher. I did give him another weird look though as he was wearing the bare minimum for a night as freezing as this one: a simple long-sleeved black shirt, some useless fingerless gloves, that odd crop-topped red jacket, black skinny jeans and some stylish boots. The boots were about the only decent thing on this guy, so I had to ask how the hell he wasn't jittering like a kettle at the cold.

His only response: an exasperated look whilst he mumbled "Ain't that cold."

 _Nuh-uh, ain't_ _that_ _cold_.

Barely a response? What did Romelle see in this guy? What even was their relationship? Because I was seriously confused. I decided I'd give it a go and ask, "So, you and Romelle?"

Keith sighed, raising his brows at me, "Look, we're not dating if you have a crush on Romelle or whatever."

Whoa there – was that _jealousy_ in his tone? I grinned, " _Right_ , but you two are endgame or something? I respect that."

This time he stopped in his tracks and I echoed his movements, hoping I hadn't struck some sort of nerve. I clearly had as he snapped at me, making it very clear he had no interest, "I do _not_ have a crush on Romelle, dumbass, I'm _gay_."

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Well now I just felt like a huge dick. "Dios mío, I'm sorry I- I didn't meant to be rude, I just-" Oh crap. Now I didn't have any excuse either.

Despite my stupid mistake, he actually seemed pretty chill with the whole scenario. He waved it off, "It's fine, even if I did like her I'd have no chance, she's never had a crush on anyone and even in the presence of the town's handsomest man she barely bat an eye."

Uhhhh, clearly not me, so who? My confusion must have been clear on my face, as Keith explained briefly, "I'm talking about my brother. But he's- gone, right now."

As he coughed awkwardly, I couldn't help but have this nagging curiosity to see who this guy was – if he was anything like Keith, I could be sure I wouldn't be disappointed. "You got any pictures of him?"

"Sure," He fished out his phone and showed me a picture of the guy and – whoa. He had dark hair like Keith and was clearly Asian as well, but he had the most perfect eyeliner and a _fine_ jawline. I felt betrayed that this man left before I could be blessed with his presence – but I didn't dare ask where he was, for fear of losing the ~somewhat~ trust Keith had been showing me.

Keith must have caught me ogling as he smirked, "What's this, the lady-killer feeling a bit bi now?"

I scoffed, "Ha, jokes on you buddy, because I _am!_ " I threw him a grin and my signature finger-guns, revelling in his shocked expression, signs of a blush creeping its way onto his pale complexion. "Why the red face, see something you like?"

He fumbled for an excuse, sputtering in embarrassment, and it was _fucking hilarious_.

"Fuck, _no_ , it's just- it's cold is all, nothing else," He glared at me, huffing, "Let's just go before someone tries to kill you or something."

He picked up pace fast and I had to sprint for a few seconds to catch up – no way was I gonna walk around an unfamiliar town at night alone, plus this guy seemed to know his way around a fist fight, so there's a bonus. I did jeer slightly, "But weren't you just saying it _wasn't_ cold?"

"Shut up!"

I struggled to keep my giggles controlled, and in the end failed. To say Keith was unimpressed would be an understatement, but that only made me laugh more. Something changed in less than a minute of walking though, as he stopped dead in the middle of the road. I was still cackling, asking why we'd stopped, but he just told me to shut up.

I giggled some more until he turned to glare at me, whispering fast and furiously, "I _swear to god_ Lance, if you _don't shut your mouth_ I'm gonna _superglue_ it next time I see you."

Despite the unconventional threat (?) he just gave me, I slammed my mouth shut, a sudden shiver running down my spine. It wasn't from the cold (and neither was it from anything else, perverts), it was more like… _dread_. We'd stopped on a rural path surrounded by hedges, tall trees of the forest looming over the edge, their branches eerie spiders in the dark. Did I mention I hated spiders? Anyway, the point was there was literally no one around to hear you scream, yet I felt the scathing eyes of a killer on my back.

The hedges shook and I practically jumped into Keith's arms, who pushed me away immediately. He groaned, "Jesus Christ, Lance, it's a _fucking rabbit_."

Despite his reaction, I caught sight of his hand having reached into his back pocket – a knife? I decided not to question it, but remained as close as if we were attached at the hip, a pretty scary idea looking back, but this occasion was an exception.

Thankfully, I made it home safely, practically kissing the door once I got there. All the lights were out – abuela had probably gone to bed, nice to know she trusted me enough, but it did make me feel a bit guilty. Before unlocking the door, I glanced back at Keith, worried.

He'd already turned away, but I still asked, "Hey man, you sure you'll be alright?"

He just turned back and gave me that _goddamn smirk_ , reminding me, "I ain't the one who's scared of rabbits, so _you_ take care."

In some backwards way, I felt myself blush, fortunately once he'd turned back the other way. Shaking my head, I opened the door and stepped inside, trying to navigate the darkness like a blind man without his guide dog. I must've looked stupid, but I didn't want to wake up abuela. I managed to find the bannister, but before I could stoop down to take my shoes off, I felt a hand grasp around my face and drag me backwards into the living room.

It was the scariest feeling, being suffocated.

Another hand must've hooked around my torso to hold me in place, because how much I struggled I barely moved an inch. I whimpered for help, hoping maybe someone would hear me, but I soon stopped. The only person capable of hearing would be abuela, and what would she do? Stare in horror for five seconds before her life was taken too? I wasn't going to let her die too, but in the blackness I couldn't see anything at all- nowhere to kick or anything to grab so my hands just flailed at my oppressor senselessly as I wished for it to be over with-

Then I gasped in that sweet, sweet air.

It took me a while to start hearing properly, or to even notice the ringing in my ears and the numbness of my mind, but when I snapped back into reality I heard thumping and crashing as two people fought. One of the voices I recognised when he yelled for me to get away, and in my stupor all I could manage was to stupidly say, "Keith?"

"Call the police, dumbass!"

I gasped, my eyes having adjusted to the dark, as I saw Keith wrestling with a man that may as well have been twice his size. I didn't waste another second rushing to the home phone by the window to call the police, barely managing to get my words across as I heard Keith yell, a chilling pitter-patter resounding across the wooden floor.

I finished my call as the house returned to silence just as suddenly as it had risen to sound. The only noises left were the tense breaths of Keith and the deafening beating of my heart. I switched the light on and nearly had a heart attack as I saw the red across the floor.

"Holy- what happened, Keith?!" Suddenly remembering abuela, I lowered my voice to an angry whisper, "I heard you yelling, what the hell did you do? –How did you even get in here?!"

He shook his head, "I heard creaking- your back door was open! I- I think I cut his arm or something- it was too dark, I can't remember – did you call the police?"

"Yes! Now help me clean this mess up – mierda, it's on your shoes too!"

He kept silent as I hurried to the kitchen, flinging the doors open until I found the bleach and some towels and sponges, throwing a couple to Keith.

Before I began scrubbing, Keith interrupted, "Hold on, shouldn't you leave that for the police or something?"

I paused: it probably wasn't a good idea to mess with evidence, but what would abuela think? It was a small town, the police would be here soon anyway and wake her up, so I guessed I should leave it. However, there was one thing I was _definitely_ going to clean.

"Lance-? Whoa, w-what are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning your gorgeous boots, dumbass. _Of course_ it would be the only good thing you're wearing that'd get messy," I sighed while scrubbing the bloodstains off. It took less than two minutes, but it still left Keith looking out of place. I told him to wait on the couch as I went upstairs to explain everything to abuela before the police came knocking at our door.

Man, this was gonna be a long night.

* * *

 **A/N Okay, so… this became way too long? I just started rambling and got really into writing the whole Keith and Lance dynamic… I also decided to give Lance some 1** **st** **person, and not just Pidge. I was going to leave it on a cliffhanger, but then I thought '** ** _why_** **though?' and just closed it off neatly so it can pick up the next morning. I hope Lance's Spanish was alright lol. Tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it!**

 **Also, I don't mean to be toxic about the show as of now, I just feel like it's not been handled well.**


	4. Establishing Enemies

**A/N Sorry this is late, I've been a little busy and this chapter took more inspiration. The cinema near me is tiny so when I went to watch AMATW it was full so I had to go again the next day, since it's only on in the evenings now… a waste of half a day (but the movie was still amazing!) Gotham S4 also dropped so I've had even less time. Anyway, I ended up having some fun with this chapter…**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 ~Establishing Enemies**

Pidge and the others didn't want to believe the toxic rumours about the police's visit to Lance's house last night, nor did she want to think about how Keith hadn't returned until about 3AM. However, as Lance plodded over to their table at lunch (he hadn't been in during the morning) and brought his truth, the rumours turned out to be mostly true.

Hunk had gone visibly pale, " _Oh my god_ , Lance, are you alright?"

"I- I can't believe this, if Keith wasn't there- _oh_ my," Romelle was clearly worse for wear, shaking in her chair. Instead of Lance being the one comforted, he comforted Romelle, ironically.

Pidge remained silent, not quite knowing what to say, though it was nice to know it wasn't Keith who'd caused trouble for once. She was about to have a go at assuring Lance, but paused as she caught sight of a certain approaching jackass.

James slammed a hand down on the table next to Lance, leaning over him and leering menacingly, "Heard someone got attacked last night, someone who deserved it. Such a shame I can't remember who they are," he tipped Lance's drink over the table, "Oh well."

He walked away, Lance apparently too tired from the previous stressful night to do anything, so Pidge took pleasure in flipping James off. Hunk and Romelle took care of cuddling Lance from either side reassuringly.

Hunk muttered bitterly, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he got pissed enough to break in and scare you, Lance."

He scoffed, "No way, I know guys like him, they never get their hands that dirty. Besides, he would've had some sort of bandage round his arm – Keith managed to slash the guy."

Pidge growled, half-agreeing, "Yeah, but he's still the bane of this school. On the other hand, we also harbour the family tree of Satan," She gestured to where Lotor and Allura were holding hands on their own private table, clearly referring to the former. "I'd bet money the _Galras_ sent your attacker."

As if on cue, Lotor's criminally alluring eyes locked onto Pidge's own, as if mocking her.

Pidge was going to expose this freak and save her family no matter what.

-o-O-o-

The one good thing to come out of Lance's day was Blue, apparently a famous girl-snatcher, who had quickly befriended him in their biology class. So far, she had been the only one outside their group who'd shown any sympathy – she also apologised for her fellow Lioness's rude treatment towards him yesterday. She also mentioned being a passionate swimmer, which Lance practically pounced on (his last school was inland and had no swimming pool) as swimming was his proud specialty. Try outs were on Saturday at the East side of the lake, and he'd already took notes on location and kit.

-The worst thing about his day? Clearly the showdown at the end of lunch between the notorious Ezor and his friend Romelle.

He'd been grabbing his books when he caught sight of the red topknot. "-Sweetie, you are blocking the light of God, and by that I mean _me_." Ezor flashed a pretty smile as she flicked her hair, though Lance could clearly see through to her intentions.

Romelle's face looked so done it was almost funny, if not for the roster of bad bitches trailing behind Ezor ready to rip her to shreds with the snap of a finger. The blonde stifled an irritated groan, instead driving her annoyance into slamming her locker shut before turning sharply towards the cheerleader.

Romelle put on her best happy face, "Good afternoon, I assume you had a nice holiday?"

Ezor grit her teeth, as if cringing, "Ew, you don't even _follow_ me, so just- _move_ and stay silent."

Ezor proceeded to pass Romelle, but she kept stepping in her way, "I'm moving like you asked, aren't I? Oh, and I only assumed you had a nice holiday because mine was just _brilliant_ without this nuisance," She nodded at Ezor, who replied with a piercing glare.

Lance silently prayed that Romelle would live to see the sunset. What ensued was a venomous argument until Ezor admitted she may let Romelle off the hook if by some miracle she managed to stun them at the cheerleading try outs on Friday - a challenge Romelle gladly accepted. Lance wanted to bang his head into the wall: cheerleaders were _predators_ , he knew from his own sister (not that she was evil too), and Romelle had _no idea_ what she was getting herself into. Was this some weird way of evening the table after his actions the day before?

He added 'talking some sense into Romelle' to his notes.

-o-O-o-

Keith was lying across the couch looking at his shoes propped up on the other end; his boots were so clean it was almost blinding, and in his still-exhausted state he had to look away, not realising he'd also moaned. He felt someone ruffle his hair and looked up to see Shiro, a massive cup of coffee in his hands (this was the Holt residence, after all. They were _raised_ on coffee highs.)

"So I heard you come in this morning," Shiro paused, expecting Keith to explain himself. When he didn't, he sighed before asking more directly, "Look, I know I've been away for a while, but you can tell me what's up."

Keith groaned, not wanting to return to being that one kid with the sob story to tell – sometimes he thought that was all Shiro had ever looked after him for. Feeling his rage build to something probably disrespectful, especially considering Shiro had just returned from god knows what torture, Keith took a few deep breaths to calm himself. However, he still wasn't about to trouble Shiro with another family's problems, and instead mirrored the prying question, "What were _you_ doing still awake?"

At this the man flinched, unable to find an excuse. "I… couldn't. I couldn't sleep, I mean." He sighed, and only then did Keith notice the blatant bags under his eyes.

Feeling like an idiot, Keith arose from the couch like a vampire and promised, "Alright Shiro imma get you some sleeping pills, you stay here whilst I go to the pharmacist."

Shiro could only blubber as Keith flung his jacket on and grabbed the house keys, and Keith would've left him confused, and slightly indignant too, if it weren't for what occurred next.

Before Keith could unlock the door, he heard a crash from the living room. He was over in a split second to witness the grizzling scene before him: Shiro down on his hands and knees, screeching in pain, and all his brother could do was watch. He remained in a daze, trying to process what was going on as Shiro buckled over and began rolling around on the floor, clawing at his prosthetic arm and his hair and his face and his chest, all the while screaming in agony.

Suddenly he spoke words between the sounds, " _Help_ me, get me _out of here_ , somebody, _somebody_ -" and then he returned to screaming – the awful, awful screaming.

Those words managed to snap Keith from his daze as he pounced on Shiro, holding him down and in place whilst trying to reassure him that nothing would happen and that he was okay. It worked slightly as Shiro relaxed a bit, although still struggling and in pain. Then he heard the sickening sound of Shiro's heart beating against his chest, shouting to be let out.

Keith held his brother's face on either side and made sure they maintained eye contact, saying, "Shiro. I'm here, look at me." Shiro took in a gasp of air, blinking furiously but keeping his head towards Keith. "That's it, good. Just- just keep focusing on me, okay? Now _breathe_."

 _Look at me, Keith. Now focus. And breathe._

Keith found himself echoing Shiro's own words every time he'd gotten lost in his own rage. Ever since Shiro… _left_ , his anger issues had gotten considerably worse, Colleen even got him to see a therapist. It was only after the incident with James at the end of school that Keith felt… peace. He hasn't had one since, though that may be thanks to his suspension keeping him away from all the triggers that school set off.

Colleen's shocked gasping drew Keith from his memories, so he turned to nod at her: the situation was under control.

Shiro's breathing had settled, he'd calmed down. He mumbled his thanks, "Thank you, Keith. You really saved me there."

Keith shook his head, a warm smile on his face, "Don't scare me like that,"

His brother's pleasant smile faded as he registered the gravity of what had happened. "I… I think I remembered… _things_."

Suddenly it felt like the room had darkened, the silence humming ominously in the background.

"…Cup of coffee, anyone?"

-o-O-o-

Romelle was about to speed-walk home and begin to scheme her badass-enough-to-make-all-them-wigs-fly routine to prove to Ezor once and for all that anyone can be a cheerleader. She _was about to_ – until Lance dove out in front of her.

He shushed her before she'd even said anything, "No, no, nope, you are _not_ going to become a cheerleader, Romelle!"

The blonde in turn only rolled her eyes, about to sweep Lance to the side as she went on with her life. She did so, but he tagged along during the entire walk back – keep in mind she speed-walked, too. Damn those lanky long legs.

Finally, about halfway to her house, she spun round on the ball of her foot to glare at Lance, nose-to-nose, yelling, "Lance, I don't need your worries! Stop nagging me, for goodness' sake!"

He grumbled right back, "But Romelle, look at you! You're all skin and bone! Cheerleading isn't a nice pastime, it's one of those activities that literally consumes all your free time, and the moment you slack off Ez-whatsit will have your head – keep in mind this is still all hypothetical, because you probably won't even make it past try outs!"

Romelle narrowed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She explained, quite furiously, poking his chest condescendingly, "Excuse me, _new boy_ , but I don't need anyone telling me what I can and can't do. I'm sick of everyone treating me like the fragile little sister, or just Allura's sister! I'm sick of letting everyone by without a word, of letting Lotor and his lackeys do whatever the hell they want and just- I'm so fed up of _not doing anything!_ " She paused and took a moment to calm herself down. Eventually, she continued, her rosy eyes pleading with Lance. "Please, just let me have this one thing to get back at them."

The boy slowly nodded, realising what this was: a matter of pride. If Romelle succeeded, she'd no longer be ignored and she'd get to have a say in things – even protect her sister. The blonde gave Lance a guilty smile to show she was sorry for yelling and turned to continue her walk. Lance, however, still hadn't given up; he tugged her sleeve slightly to get her attention again, and when she looked back she saw a determined grin.

"Well, I can't just let you screw this up then, can I? I've already gone this far in the wrong direction, so I may as well help you come up with a routine,"

Romelle sputtered, "E-excuse me?! But- what- are you flirting with me?" She wasn't blushing, just really confused.

As Romelle shook her head, Lance held up his index finger as he explained his case, "Seriously, girl, anyone else in your position would be begging me for help. Those other girls? They've been thinking up a routine for a good two months at least, and here you are just deciding to join literally three days before they judge you."

Okay, that was a fair point, she decided, so she stayed to listen to more of his points. It was mostly Lance bragging about his dancing experience – scratch that, it was _all_ Lance bragging. She rolled her eyes, but agreed to his help.

Lance whooped in victory before asking, "So, what music do you wanna use? What are you into, anyways, huh?" He hummed in thought, staring at Romelle as they walked. "A goody-two-shoes like you is probably a closeted fan of some obscure genre…"

As he listed off names of genres Romelle didn't even think sounded real, she sighed. The only people who knew her music taste were Allura, obviously, and Keith – but only because his taste was equally as amusing, so they'd made a pact never to tell.

Lance continued pushing, not getting anything, having to reveal his own embarrassing taste: "Okay, but whatever it is it's gotta be better than what I was into years ago,"

"Oh really? What was it?"

"I'm not afraid to own it, but I was obsessed with anime music and specifically…" He took a deep breath before whispering solemnly, " _Vocaloid_."

Romelle had to giggle at that, "Oh god, they're not even real people!"

"Hey! Don't diss my waifus,"

She had to admit her own interests after _that_ embarrassing story, "Alright, mine isn't quite as sad as that." She huffed, "I'm total K-Pop trash."

Lance gave her a suspicious, cat-like smirk, "…You _totally are!_ Oh my god, how didn't I see it?! That's absolutely perfect though, that music is _great_ for dancing,"

Romelle failed to hide her smug pride, "Yeah, K-Pop groups are crazy epic at dancing."

"Woo! Let's get to scheming then, partner!" Lance hip-bumped Romelle, at which she burst into laughter. He did have one last question: "Just for insurance though, what's your favourite K-Pop song?"

She gave him an evil look, "Only if you tell me your favourite Vocaloid song,"

-o-O-o-

Twiddling with the roasted vegetables, I stifled a sigh at the familiar sound of tongues clicking, knives screeching across plates and sharp words thrown over the table. Lotor and father were arguing over the business, as usual, the former making those same points: father's methods were old, there are too many problems regarding transportation, there were easier ways to make even more money… I don't know the details, I was raised simply as a bodyguard; Lotor was the boy raised to be a businessman, and by the sound of it, father had raised one better than himself. Father, being the selfish and prideful type, didn't like this at all, but they used to just have little spats over the matter. Unfortunately, mother coerced father into showing Lotor the darker side of the business, and ever since then Lotor has gone out of his way many times just to go against father. Mother calls it a phase, father lays on the punishment, but I know it's a lot worse than what they think.

Again, I don't know the details, but I know it's bad – possibly worse than what father gets up to. If it's bad enough that 'princess' Allura both got dragged into it and won't speak of it, it would have to be pretty bad, even without the fact that he'd been stealing from mother's lab and father's basement, going off with that equipment to god knows where. Oh, yes, even I have no idea where he runs off to most nights, because it can't always be his girlfriend's or she would've put a restraining order on that snake. Then there's the fact that the only orders I've been given this past year have consisted mostly of threatening people – that helps my case too.

It wasn't a sound that brought me out of my thoughts, rather the lack of it. I looked up, searching each person's face: Lotor looked determined, mother looked curious, and father looked both confused and offended.

Father whispered furiously at his son, "You want to invite the enemy here? To our territory?"

Lotor growled back, "What 'enemy'? You killed off the 'enemy', I just want you to finally meet the love of my life, is that so illegal?"

Father arose, voice booming throughout the room, "It is in this house, especially if that someone is an _Altea_."

Mother sensed her son about to storm off, so interrupted with her own opinion, "Perhaps we should give her a chance, Zarkon, after all this will most likely be the woman to run our business in the future. She may have more sense than him, at least."

Lotor snapped back, "Oh, she has more sense _you_."

Father's lip twitched as he held back another scolding, and instead he gave a tight nod. "Perhaps this will solve itself easier when I prove to you just how _weak_ the Alteas are, son." Father and Lotor locked eyes dangerously before mother spoke.

Mother gave her thin smile, that smile that always stuck between kind and fake so you never knew which it was, and decided, "Alright. The young lady can come over this Saturday."

She didn't have to say it for them to know that this Saturday was the only day, anything else and the dinner would be called off. The rest of dinner was held in contented silence.

Later that night, I saw Lotor sneak off again, zipping up a bag of guns.

-o-O-o-

Lance arrived home grounded; he had forgotten that his abuela had given him a new curfew to be home straight after school for at least a week, because of the last night's… incident. He'd have to work on Romelle's choreography either at school or over facetime (it was looking kick-ass, if you wanted to know). Most of his night had been spent watching Mamma Mia on the film channel with his abuela; he found himself singing along to every song as he did his homework – multi-tasking exists, so why not use it? He walked past the console table and caught sight of a pile of letters, mostly addressed to him. A lot were from old friends, the others were from his family. Good old Veronica, bragging about Venice in the most old-fashioned way: _by postcard_.

"The nerve of that _bi_ -" He held the vowel, unable to call his beloved sister such a horrible name, "- _ig_ butthead!"

What he wouldn't give to be over there, romantically rowing away on a gondola with a cute Italian girl or guy – and the nerve of that girl to send him a postcard of literally _that exact scene_ …! He snatched his phone and called her, ready to have words (and all the gossip from her travels).

"Yo lil bro, feeling chilly over there?"

Lance rolled his eyes, "Oh shut it, anyways I got your dumb postcard, V."

"Ooh, I bet you _loved_ it!" She cackled like a witch, "How is it over there? I bet you've gotten in trouble already- ooh! What about school, that's started, hasn't it? Isn't your old buddy Hank in that town? Oh my god, what are the girls like, what are the guys like – are there any worth, y'know, _mentioning?_ "

Lance groaned at his sister's giggling after that last question, telling himself that he'd do the asking this time around (not to mention that she'd said many terrible things just then too). "I'm not telling you, and his name's _Hunk_ , dummy."

"But you just told me your friend is called Hunk,"

"So? Sh-shut up!" Goddammit, she'd got him again. Next thing he knew and he'd have told her all about Pidge and Romelle and Kei- oh.

Oh no.

He _had_ gotten into trouble, hadn't he? But he didn't want to bother his sister with all the crazy things that had happened, so he coughed and changed the subject, asking about all that she'd gotten up to. He was met with instant regret, as Veronica drabbled on for a solid twenty minutes about her travels, hair problems, a girl she had a fling with, a couple of guys she'd "snogged the shit out of", the beautiful views, and that was leaving out the entire half about shopping. Lance didn't remember how many shoes she'd bought exactly, only that he thought at the time 'what do you do with them? Change them _every goddamn hour?!_ '

Eventually she flung the mic over to him, so he decided to go ahead and ask, "Hey, uh, have you felt anyone… _watching_ you lately?"

"Uh… no? What, you mean like some sorta assassin?"

He sighed, "It's fine, probably nothing."

"-I bet you got a peeping tom-"

"What?! No way! _Ew!_ " He almost threw his phone across the hall, but thought better of it. "V, I'm being serious. Do you think there might be people here who specifically want me gone?"

She scoffed, "Duh, you're the son of the CEO of a big company – not to mention that said CEO is in prison, though it may be for something he _definitely_ didn't do, high school kids will pounce on any excuse to discriminate."

Lance found himself rolling his eyes again, "Whatever, I know about those jerks, and it isn't them."

His sister hummed in thought, "You're in Lilliton, aren't you? Isn't that where dad grew up? He mentioned once that he moved because the competition lived there too, a scary family whose business was a lot shadier. I think he was implying that they, y'know… _got rid_ of their enemies."

Lance wanted to brush the idea away, Veronica was probably just scaring him. However, he found himself biting his lip nervously, asking in a low voice, "Do you remember the name of the family?"

"It was something weird… Galro? Gara?"

He blurt out in realisation, "Galra!"

"Aha! That's the one!" She laughed slightly before it clicked, "Mierda, so that family still lives there? Oh my god, Lance, are you okay? Did something happen, is that why you're all paranoid?"

At his sister's worried onslaught of questions, he couldn't tell her the truth, but he couldn't lie to her either, so he made up an excuse to end the call, Veronica's voice cutting off as he pressed the red button.

Lance decided it was time to do some digging.

* * *

 **A/N Oh no what have I done, dragging K-Pop into this. I love K-Pop and all, but I'm not an expert? Vocaloid, however, I am** ** _the_** **expert in. I can totally imagine Romelle and Lance jamming to Viva Happy, for example. Lance's old favourites were definitely Luvoratorrrrry and Cosmonauts (I mean who doesn't melt at Maika's Spanish rap like oh my-) ahem. Anyways, back to the story, this chapter is mostly build-up, but guess what's next chapter?**

 **THE SWIMMING SCENE!**

 **But also who here watches RWBY because that Adam short was fricking AMAZING! Speaking of Adams, I'm changing this story's Adam's last name to Warner, since we never learnt it fully, but it began with a 'W'.**


	5. Bubbling Waters

**A/N Sorry this is late, it took way too long to properly write, and I've been a little distracted with stuff. I did say the swimming scene would be around Ch. 5, and this is technically Ch. 5 if you count the prologue... Also, BTS broke YouTube once again with IDOL, but I wrote the Romelle part just before it came out, and I personally prefer the song she uses here, it is AMAZING!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4~ Bubbling Waters**

Hunk arrived at school to find Romelle looking as if her soul were about to leave her body, Lance beside her desperately trying to reassure her. Today was Friday, that meant lunchtime would decide whether Romelle would survive the rest of the year with or without her dignity – or so _they_ thought, Hunk honestly didn't think it mattered either way. He'd seen Romelle dance plenty of times at parties, and she was surprisingly good at it, no matter how much of a joke it was meant to be. He also remembered Lance dancing that one time at a supermarket when they played Shakira, all those years ago – dancing was in his _bones_. In the midst of this pair of dancers, Hunk frantically searched for his non-dancing ally, Pidge, but strangely she was nowhere to be seen. Pidge only missed school if she was badly ill or something else drastic had happened.

He was halfway through sending a text to her when Romelle shook him by the shoulders, "Hunk! Please! You and Pidge have to be there too, I can't do this alone!"

Lance gently lifted her tense hands off of Hunk's shoulders, smiling at him apologetically, "Sorry, man – Romelle, you'll be fine out there, honestly! It's all about _confidence_ , and you have plenty of it, trust me."

Romelle took one look at his reassuring grin, then turned back to Hunk, "See, I can't just have him, he's basically my therapist at this point, he doesn't count!"

Hunk steadied the blonde, "Whoa, of course I'll come and see! I'm not sure about Pidge, though, since it looks like she isn't here today."

She, however, took the news positively, sighing, "Well, one is better than none!" She squealed excitedly, seeming to have relaxed a little. "I can't wait! Make it lunchtime already! I'm gonna knock their socks off with my-"

Lance corrected, "-Our,"

"- _Our_ epic routine."

Hunk asked, "Hey, what're you dancing to, anyway?"

Romelle pounced on this opportunity to gush about her fandom, "Oh, you will have _eargasms_ when you listen to it! It's my current reason to live: the Fake Love x Ddu-du Ddu-du mashup!"

Lance seconded her opinion, nodding enthusiastically, "It actually is she ain't lying."

Before Hunk could voice his worries (he always had them), Romelle began blasting it from her phone, no care for the other students eyeing her weirdly.

-o-O-o-

Romelle took her finishing pose, sweating dreadfully from the dancing and the pressure and the fact that she had literally no one to support her but herself. Sure, maybe there was her sister, but Ezor had strictly banned boys from witnessing the try outs. And of course this had all happened the one day Pidge wasn't in school. Weirdly, the fact that she was all alone made her feel more confident – she went all-out during her performance, and if Ezor didn't appreciate all the moves she'd pulled, then that stuck-up redhead didn't deserve her.

"Hmm." Ezor tapped the end of her pen against her chin in thought, but Romelle could tell she'd come to a decision. "No."

She wasn't even surprised; of course Ezor wouldn't have accepted her, no matter if she'd danced better than frickin' Beyoncé. She gave the redhead a cold glare and turned, ready to storm off, but a familiar voice held her in her tracks.

"Wait, Ezor, are you being serious? That performance was good for a novice, you can't deny it just like that."

Ezor whipped her head around to snap at the speaker, "Hell yeah I _can_ , princess, it's _my_ cheer squad! If I don't show some discipline here, the next thing you know and we'll be letting fat Sophie onto the squad!" She stomped over to Allura so they met nose-to-nose, "And if you think this girl gets a free pass just because she's your little sister, don't bother coming to our next practice."

Allura raised her brows, unimpressed, especially at Ezor's fake smile. Thankfully, Acxa stepped in to convince Ezor to let Romelle join. "Six girls left from last year, and if we don't take Romelle, we'll only have two new members. Ideally, four would've been perfect, but three is better than a measly two."

Ezor's eye twitched, irritated at the low turnout (or more specifically at how Acxa had so bluntly stated it), but Acxa was the only other girl whose opinions she took to heart. After a minute of scowling at nothing in particular, she swerved over to hiss at Romelle, "Fine. You can join – but the minute you miss a session you're _out_ , got that?"

Romelle pursed her lips, but gave a tight nod. Seeming satisfied, Ezor let out a small contented puff, smiling at the newest member. She pirouetted over to face the rest of the squad, who applauded the end of try outs and their new members. Romelle felt her body relax; she'd been so tense during the whole decision-making, and before that she'd been moving about like crazy, obviously. As the girls left the hall, a couple of them had asked her what that song was called and that made Romelle the smuggest person in the world for a few moments. The only one who really didn't look that into the song was Acxa, so the fact that she'd stood up for her befuddled Romelle. Perhaps she wasn't as evil as Romelle imagined? She shrugged the thought away, instead reminding herself to hug the hell out of her sister when she got home that day.

-o-O-o-

Hunk braced himself for the never-ending tales of Coran as he pushed open the library doors, still confused as to why Pidge would miss a whole day of school just to browse the library – weirder still to message him to come over immediately.

Coran called out to the boy from his desk, "Ah, Hunk, my boy! Good to see you again, your small friend is digging through the local history section upstairs – she seems quite frantic, is she alright? Oh, girls these days! I remember back in my day girls would all be so…" And there are the tales.

Coran's voice trailed off as Hunk wasted no time hurrying up the stairs over to where he'd said Pidge would be. He rounded the bookshelf but only found about a dozen piles of books scattered messily around, the girl who'd made the mess nowhere to be seen. Hunk was about to start tunnelling through the piles, Pidge was pretty small, after all, and kind of clumsy. However, Hunk found a more viable theory once he caught sight of the ladder – albeit a little too late.

"Ah, fuck-" And then a wavering wail as Pidge came falling through the air.

Hunk managed to rush over just in time to catch her, both of them huffing at the sudden impact. Pidge blinked twice comically before looking up, adjusting her glasses as a slight blush came over her face.

She coughed, "Hunk! Thanks for catching me, but we have a job to do."

She shuffled out of his big arms and this time it was Hunk who blinked, confused. He followed her, asking, "Um, what job exactly? You didn't really explain much in your text."

"We're digging up dirt of the Galras." Pidge narrowed her eyes at the book in her hands, the one she'd braved the ladder for. "I-I mean, not really dirt, but just info, in case there's anything suspicious."

Hunk sighed; he wouldn't tell Pidge to stop this paranoid activity, since he knew it was her way of dealing with all the disappearances, but trying to get the Galras in trouble over nothing but instinct? That seemed off to him, but he agreed to help out since they wouldn't even find any dirt anyway. The Galras basically ran the town, their family was one of the founding families of the town. If there had been any dirt, that family would've had it destroyed ages ago – hell, no one even knew the other founding families, all the books older than two centuries had been burned when the Galras shut down a documentary about the Legend of Loch Lillie a few decades ago, Coran had said.

They spent hours sifting through books, but everything turned out to be useless or incredibly positive. Pidge, however many times Hunk tried to convince her otherwise, would not give up. Some pages had been torn out, pages after passages that sounded like they were leading to a negative point, and so she insisted there must be something they missed.

Pidge groaned in frustration, moaning about how corrupt this town must be to not mention a single bad thing about this family. As Pidge went on about her complaints, Hunk thought he'd found something. He scrambled around for the other book he'd seen this in, and brought up the Galra biography on Pidge's laptop.

He called for Pidge to come over, "Hey, I think I've got something kinda odd. Y'know how they rebuild the Galra mansion every century as this weird tradition thing?" She nodded, and he continued, opening up the pages of previous blueprints. "The last few versions always had a basement, but this century's version doesn't – isn't that a little weird? I mean, why get rid of an entire basement?"

Instead of nodding in curiosity, Pidge's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh my god… Hunk you are a fucking genius!" She grabbed her laptop and scrolled down to the section that explained the building process of the current mansion, and read aloud the following line: "After demolishing the previous iteration, the builders proceeded to work on the new foundations by building up the new walls and columns."

Hunk just raised a brow, "So? That doesn't tell us anything, Pidge."

She glared at him, "Duh, it obviously does! Look, they explain literally every single detail and step of the building process, but not once do they mention filling in the basement or covering it up, whatever they do. If they had done so, it would say in the sentence I just read out. And furthermore," She took out one of the books he'd prepared, "In this book, the initial blueprints had a basement. It doesn't make sense that they'd get rid of it after all these years, and if they did there'd surely be some reason as to why, but there's no mention of the change or the basement at all."

She paused, and Hunk voiced her thoughts, "So they must be hiding something in the basement? Since they probably haven't gotten rid of it, you think?" At Pidge's look of determination, Hunk's heart sank. Somehow he had a feeling she was about to suggest something stupid and reckless, so he tried to contradict her. "Look, you're probably just reading into things too much. Please, Pidge, just go home and get some rest – and don't do anything impulsive."

Pidge scoffed at his motherly attitude, "'Impulsive'? Who am I, Keith?"

"Well, he has been living with you for a while now, it may well have infected you too."

She sighed, shutting down her laptop. "Alright, I am pretty tired. But we should clean this up, I feel bad for Coran."

Hunk chuckled, already picking up a stack of books. It was around one in the morning when they finally got home.

-o-O-o-

Saturday morning and Red had dragged me to her sister's swim try outs. Not to try out, obviously, she and I can swim just fine but we're not godly at it like Blue, but to watch "a ton of half-naked guys and gals" as she'd put it. To be honest, I wouldn't have come if Pidge hadn't been asleep by the time Red came over to drag me away, especially as it takes place at the lake. Lakeside folks are always so uptight about things, but it makes sense that Blue wouldn't want everyone swimming down the river. I wasn't expecting to see anyone in particular, but fate shoved this guy in my face once more.

I choked on my slush when I caught sight of Lance _frickin_ McClain, clad in nothing but his swim trunks, showing off a beautifully tanned chest and skin sleeker than a fucking Barbie doll- I mean, it was all a bit perfect for just some guy, plenty of straight guys would've stopped to admire it too. Right? Oh god, I needed to stop staring like an idiot – this guy hadn't even thanked me for saving his ass yet, and I'm looking at him like he's this wonderful thing? However much I tried to focus on another set of abs, my dumb eyes bragged me back to Lance, stretching up and down, back and forth… At some point, my ogling must've mutated into scowling, since Red tapped me out of my staring contest with his body.

"Yo, Keith? Double K? Emo boy?"

" _What_ , Red."

She held her hands out for me to calm down, "Whoa there, I was just gonna ask who you were glaring at. Like, what did they do to you?" She gasped, "Oh my god is it that cute guy Romelle made you walk home the other night?"

I groaned, shoving her away. She took my silence as confirmation and proceeded to gush about it, but I decided to ignore her. The course had begun, Blue had blown the whistle, and everyone had dived into the lake. She'd asked quite a lot from them: they needed to swim up and down this side of the lake in less than an hour, but preferably quicker. Alright, so they could keep close to the banks, and this side of the lake was the shortest side, but I still thought Blue was being pretty harsh. Not everyone is a motherfucking mermaid like her, but Blue was always one to have high expectations. That's probably why Red ended up so chill, because she was fed up of her twin being so stuck-up and strict.

Anyways, Lance seemed to prove me wrong. This guy was a _merman_. He dove in and shot through the water like a torpedo, leaving me and plenty of others quite stunned. Blue was grinning smugly, Red congratulating me.

"Whoa, Double K, your crush is one hell of a _catch_ – get it? 'Cause he's swimming like a fucking _fish_ out there, _damn girl!_ " She hit my back, hard, and I grumbled at her.

"Red, I don't have any crush on anyone, he's just a guy I know."

She pursed her lips, humming in thought. Suspiciously, she narrowed her eyes at me, "Oh… Is this the whole 'crush on a straight guy' thing? I'll stop, if it's that bad, y'know."

I hastily shut that down, "What?! No! I'd never pine after some straight guy, dumbass." After a few minutes of her off-putting stares, I gave in. "Alright, he's bi, so I guess he's not _bad_."

She, however, gave me an incredulous response, " _'Not bad'_? Geez, Keith, that guy is _hella fine_ – I mean, if you won't call dibs right now, then surely _I_ can have a shot at him, right?"

For some reason I felt a stab of jealousy at the thought of Red flirting with Lance, and snapped at Red that wouldn't happen. She did raise her brows, but brushed off the suggestion by saying she wasn't that into swimmers anyway, what with her sister and all. I felt bad for snapping at her, so I ended up apologising and… somewhat explaining my feelings.

"Red, sorry for snapping but… I'm not really sure how I feel about Lance yet, but when we first met it got complicated real quick. We had a nice conversation and all, he seemed cool, but then – you know about the attack don't you? Well, _that_ happened and I ended up saving his ass, but after the police came it was like I wasn't there, so I snuck out and headed back home." I sighed. Lance wasn't as bad as I thought some rich guy would be, but he's still no saint.

Those warnings Shiro had given me came to mind as I looked back, and I wondered if something was trying to shove me into Lance's way on purpose. I guessed I should at least give Lance some sort of check-up after this had finished – preferably away from Red's judging yellow gaze.

As if on cue, Lance made it back just as Plaxum had climbed out of the lake. I swear I tried my hardest not to stare, but the way he shook his hair when he got out and the way the water splashed off of him and that blinding smile and it was all just _too frickin mesmerising_.

Red gave me a knowing look, purring, "Ooh, and how does _he_ look?"

A part of me really wanted to turn to Red and growl at her, but I guess I was too hypnotised by a water-soaked Lance to deny this gnawing feeling. I breathed out wistfully, " _Beautiful_."

The seating area seemed to go awkwardly quiet after that, and it took me a good two minutes before what I'd just said sunk in. I'm pretty certain I went bright red and fumbled for an excuse, but couldn't find one, so I just sat in shame.

Red ended up cackling at the scene, patting my back, "Oh, come on, I know it's like Free! out here but _withhold yourself_ , Keith!" She put on a posh British accent as she yelled "withhold yourself" exaggeratedly, like on a show we'd watched together, so I couldn't help but laugh with her.

But still, there was no way anything like that was gonna happen again. _Ever_. Nope. "He's an idiot, Red. I barely even know him." Besides, I've got more pressing problems on my mind, like finding out who tortured my brother, who still has the rest of my best friend's family, where the hell Pidge has been all night, and that's _only_ three things. I was positive I had enough going on to distract me from a pretty face, so when Red said her next words there was only one adequate response.

"Alrighty then, if he's so 'unworthy' then y'ain't allowed to fall in love with him. If you do, you'll have to spend all your free time helping me fish whilst pining away at lovely Lancey over there."

Plus, Red had used "y'ain't" (friendship goals). I grinned, "That won't be a problem."

-o-O-o-

Allura had prepared herself well for her first meeting with Lotor's family – she'd been warned by many, mostly Lotor himself, that they were a tough crowd. She made sure to learn the proper etiquette and had even gone to her uncle, Coran, for advice. Of course it had resulted in another long tale of his, but she learned the most from it. What _not_ to do, specifically. She wore a clean white dress that matched her hair, a navy ribbon paired with a pink ribbon wrapped around her waist. She kept her shoes simple, just black ankle boots with a pink strap around them. She covered her arms in white opera gloves that contrasted her dark skin beautifully, and to show just how important this was she'd put on her late mother's jewellery: deep pink crystal earrings and a pearl necklace. Romelle had been gobsmacked for a good five minutes before finally managing to get herself together and announce her sister's beauty to the whole neighbourhood and group chat. Unfortunately, Allura suspected the Galras were the sort of people to ignore the neighbourhood's opinions, however she knew of no one that could deny the _group chat's_ opinions – friends of friends of friends became an odd assortment, really.

The dinner began silent, few words exchanged between Haggar and Lotor, though Acxa and Zarkon remained strangely quiet, as the table occupied itself with the starter: an expensive-looking but tiny morsel of fish. Other dressings were clearly present, but Allura wasn't a food expert. Her two mouthfuls did taste very nice, though then it was finished. How the others could manage to prolong the eating of such a tiny dish, Allura had no idea.

As the others quietly munched away, Allura contemplated a suitable topic to discuss. Eventually, she settled on one and asked the table, "So, where do you believe this town is headed? Clearly, we're a little behind the cities and the more urban towns, but this town seems to have halted all its plans since the…" After a moment of debating whether she should really mention this topic, deciding she'd already led into it, she continued, " _Incidents_."

Acxa gave Allura a quick glance, impressed with the clever choice of topic. Lotor, however, didn't try to hide a smidge of smugness from his expression.

Haggar answered first, "Yes, we do seem to have stopped all progress, though it really doesn't make much difference to our business."

Allura nodded in understanding as her boyfriend rolled his eyes. He pointed out to his mother, "Are you sure about that? Personally, I think you should be much more worried about those _incidents_." Lotor flashed a threatening look at Haggar, as if some secret subject was being tossed between them.

Allura noticed Acxa tense up next to her and the disapproving huff from Zarkon, but Haggar responded before she could attempt to calm the table. "Lotor, whatever are you talking about? If this is another one of your rebellious phases, please refrain from showing it at the dinner table in front of everyone." Lotor made to get up, but Allura placed her hand on his to calm him; nobody wanted a scene while a guest was present. Haggar passed the conversation over, "Acxa, what do you think of all this? Be honest, dear."

Though her words were kind, Allura could tell it was an order. Acxa took a deep breath, putting on a pleasant face, "Of course, Lotor is joking, mother. Honestly, I believe he needs to rethink his career choice: comedian doesn't suit him."

Haggar croaked a light laugh, Allura breathing a sigh of relief as the atmosphere relaxed. Finally, Haggar called for the maids to serve the main course of steak, salad and sweet potato chips. Allura gulped down the drool that nearly escaped her at the mouth-watering scent of it and then, after glancing around to check that everyone else had begun to eat, she wolfed away at the meal. She tried her best to control herself, but it truly tasted delicious, _more_ than delicious.

Allura had to ask, "This is the most wonderful meal I've ever had! How do you get this to be so delicious, if I may ask?"

Haggar opened her mouth, seeming happy to oblige, though Zarkon cut her off. These were the first words he'd properly spoken that evening, and they were not friendly. "Why do you want to know so much? Stop asking these prying questions just so you can steal our ideas like you always do."

The table fell to silence. Acxa shut her eyes tightly, as if she were expecting this to happen, Lotor glaring daggers at his father. This time it was Allura who tensed, more shocked than offended at Zarkon's words. In fact, more _curious_ than shocked. Since when had she stolen their ideas?

As Zarkon continued his dinner like nothing had happened, Lotor leaned forward to answer Allura's question. "For one thing, the beef has been cooked to perfection by our lovely chef, Hirako, who indeed has a lot of expertise in this area specifically. You see, the beef isn't just any beef, it's the rare and delicious Wagyu beef."

Allura nodded as he continued to explain, but Zarkon interrupted rather indignantly, "Of course, we all just answer without any thought. How about I give my own answer to our guest's first question, then? Personally, I don't think this town is going anywhere good, in fact with the current weak leadership and corrupt council, this town is getting worse. For one thing, they allow those crude gangsters to run amok, invading our pure neighbourhood with the riverside scum. That doesn't even mention how they still allow your family to hang onto its thin ties to this town, rather than cut them off like they ought to."

Allura flinched at the harsh admonishment, not quite knowing where it came from. It seemed Acxa and Haggar half expected it as they appeared more disappointed than shocked or angry. Lotor, however, was fuming with rage. He rose up and yelled, roaring monstrously, "Father, why do you insist on being so cold to Allura? Is it because of her family? If so, even that doesn't make any sense. I've read those books you keep hidden away in the basement, I know our history, so why have you tossed that all away?"

Allura didn't know which she wanted more: for all this to be over, or to delve deeper and interrogate the Galras about what this all meant. Her parents had died before she was old enough to understand what was happening, and her only concern had been looking after Romelle; they had never even mentioned anything about their work, and according to Coran it was all kept very secret. She edged forward in her seat to take in all that was said, trying to put some of it together in her head.

Zarkon retorted at his son, "You _know?_ Clearly, you know nothing. Those books are only half of the truth of the humiliation the Alteas put us through, and all of it occurred well before you were even born. You should've been thankful you didn't have to deal with them, but instead you court them."

Lotor spat furiously in return, "At least I'm not so caught up in the past that I can't move forward!"

Allura decided it was time to interrupt, " _Please_ , calm down,"

" _You_ don't get to order our family around," Zarkon narrowed his eyes at her, mouth curling in a frightening snarl.

Having reached her breaking point, she rose from her seat and retaliated. "Well, at least my family would know how to run a proper family dinner, hell, even a proper _family_. No wonder everyone loathes this place, it's cursed with your blood! What did my family even _do_ to deserve such poor reception here?"

Allura felt a hand grab her arm, turning to see Acxa shaking her head, indigo eyes glimmering with something desperate – worry? Fear?

After a tense moment of heavy silence, Haggar began to mumble eerily like a witch, as if incanting a spell. Her violent whispers eventually rose to an audible level, "…Only to plagiarise my _entire_ life's work, and as if that wasn't enough, the moment things turned south they used me as their _scapegoat!_ They practically _ruined_ my career, and you wonder whatever your _nice, innocent, peaceful_ family could have possibly done to anger us?"

She scoffed, making Allura gulp anxiously. She'd unknowingly wandered into a nest of foxes, herself a mouse amongst the predators. Allura looked to Lotor for help, but he seemed just as shocked and nervous as she was; she swerved her head round to Acxa, who was looking down at her lap guiltily, clearly not wanting to get involved and worsen the situation.

Zarkon took a quiet sip of his wine as Haggar coughed, "I apologise for my outburst, but I suppose dinner must now come to an end. Acxa, if you would,"

The sapphire-haired girl stood up to meet the snow-haired girl and, taking her by the arm, escorted her towards the front door. Allura and Lotor had exchanged a brief apologetic look between each other before Acxa led the former away completely.

After exiting the house, Acxa swiftly dragged Allura to the side into the privacy of the hedges. She grabbed the shorter girl by the shoulders, shaking her to get her attention. She spoke in a haste, hushed tone, almost worryingly, "Allura, please, you mustn't come back here, ever again. Your relationship with Lotor is fine, but please keep away from his parents, they are pure incarnations of _evil_."

Allura wanted to laugh at her serious face as she said all those absurd things, but found that she couldn't. Instead, she queried, "Acxa, what's wrong with that family?"

She sighed, "Many things, but it's best for everyone if nobody knows." She paused, looking off into the distance. Allura could tell in that one moment how Acxa wished she'd been adopted by a different family, perhaps even left in the orphanage system until she grew up, and suddenly Allura felt her warnings sink in. Acxa repeated herself, "Do _not_ try to find out, it's best if nobody knows, trust me. Especially for you, Allura."

Allura nodded in understanding, flashing her a comforting smile. "Of course, I'll stay away."

Acxa seemed to relax after those words, finally taking in a deep breath and smiling awkwardly back at Allura. The taller girl muttered her thanks, spinning round to return to the house.

Allura began walking her way down the road, but turned to wave one last goodbye to Acxa. She called, "Stay safe."

Acxa looked quite shocked at first, but soon settled down to a content face, her lips curling in a beautiful smile as she looked away. Her smile was pretty, Allura thought she should show it off more often.

On her way home, Allura occupied herself by thinking of a valid explanation as to why she was home so early – she sun had barely began to set by the time she was halfway back (even though it was only a fifteen-minute walk between her house and Lotor's). She groaned in apprehension; Romelle would be having words with the Galras, no matter how Allura would try to patch it up.

-o-O-o-

The try outs had come to an end just as the sun decided to set (some swimmers had been pretty darn slow, and of course there was more than the one test), and Lance had fully dried off. He shimmied into his T-shirt and jeans, only just doing up his belt as he caught sight of a familiar raven-haired boy, a girl with bright red hair walking alongside him. He narrowed his eyes in thought; Keith was wearing something stupid again, namely a pitch-black hoodie, hood actually drawn up in all its emo glory, during the _hottest_ day Lance had experienced in this town so far. Jesus Christ, someone needed to teach this boy how to dress appropriately. Lance tutted, deciding to ignore such a disgraceful being and slip past before Keith noticed him, but turned to face a beaming pair of the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.

Blue's ebony hair whipped him in the face as she shook around in excitement, "Oh my god, Lance! You were like a majestic dolphin out there, wiggling through the water at breakneck pace, you nearly beat my girl Plaxum!" She then leaned in to whisper cheekily, "I can keep a secret, you know, so if you're really a merman, feel free to tell me!"

He laughed, denying the theory, but his plan to sneak past Keith had already failed: he felt a slender hand tap his shoulder, and turned to meet Keith's shadowed face. Lance groaned in frustration – the world hated him, officially – and yanked down that ridiculous hood.

Keith yelped, "What the fuck, Lance?! I was just saying 'hi', no need to attack my hood!"

The redhead behind him poked her head around to gasp at the scene, " _No!_ Not the _sacred hood!_ " She hissed at Lance half-jokingly (hopefully half-jokingly, Lance wasn't quite sure where he stood with this scary girl), " _How dare you_ , you _heathen!_ "

The redhead, however, was smacked down by Blue, who puffed in disappointment, "Red, stop harassing people again, you're an embarrassing sister, y'know." She then focused on Keith, "So, how do you and Lance know each other, then?"

Keith just stood there, dumbfounded, "Uhhhhhhh," He gave Lance a frantic look, not knowing what to say. Sure, Lance agreed he couldn't just say 'oh, you know, I kinda saved his ass from being stolen from and then saved him from being assassinated, hahaha totally normal way of making acquaintances' or something. Lance just felt so _empowered_ seeing Keith fumble around for a possible explanation, he wanted this moment to last forever. He must've been smirking smugly, as Keith's eyes met with Lance's in an exasperated glare.

Lance rolled his eyes, "We met at Voltron, shared a couple drinks, went off our separate ways, _hoping never to meet again_."

Keith raised his brows at the last part, but Lance ignored his look of shock to interrogate Blue about swim schedules, and all that stuff. Lance meant for this to be a signal that he didn't want Keith and his friend – Red, whatever, Scary Lady – pestering him any longer, but they just stood there, like they were analysing the conversation. Keith looked almost confused, staring at Lance with his brow furrowed, whereas Red looked completely focused, mouth agape as she listened.

Lance only finished his talk with Blue after he swore he heard Red mutter something about Lance turning out to be a douche, but when Blue walked off to Plaxum and he spun around to confront the other pair about what he'd heard, they'd vanished, frickin Batman style. Though that was what he'd wanted them to do from the beginning, when it happened he felt strangely guilty. As he thought briefly about Keith, he remembered Voltron and the whole problem with Melyn. Things had been awfully awkward between them after that incident, and Lance regretted it; she seemed like a nice girl, and sure nobody's perfect, so he decided to attempt to be friends again that night. She and the Lionesses were meant to be playing, after all.

* * *

 **A/N IT IS FINALLY DONE! Whoa this took ages, Allura's part took like three full A4 pages, and clearly I can't write dance scenes so I even skipped that part of Romelle's, but oh no! Lonce is shunning poor Keef! Come on, I had to keep some part of their rivalry, and it was damn fun to write. Actually, the library scene was my favourite from this chapter – it's plot AND fluff! I'm sorry but Hidge is too damn cute let me ship it goddammit.**

 **Also, fair warning, school starts again from tomorrow and the first half-term is always the most hectic, so updates will probably be few and far between from now on, even though I'm itching to start delving deep into the plot. That is unless I'm blessed with writing powers at the weekends and churn out an entire chapter or something...**


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